A site for me to make my favorite TV Western end the way it should have. Enjoy my scribblings. =)
Please, let me know what you think of my stories! Tell me the good, the bad and the ugly. Or leave me suggestions for future installments.

Monday, December 24, 2012

The Gift 10/11

Summary: It's been four long years of war and separation. But now the hostilities are over. But Kid's family is still flung to the far corners of the earth and he's feeling guilty he didn't go with them. Will the spirit of the Christmas season help him forget?

Chapter 10

McCloud
Ranch, near Sweetwater, Wyoming Territory

“It’s Christmas morning!”

“Santa Claus came!”

“Look at that tree!”

The shouts of excited children, their
pounding footsteps as they raced past the bedroom door and down the stairs,
followed by their squeals of excitement over the decorating she and Kid had
down the night before pulled Lou from her slumber. Groaning she rolled over and peeked through
her eyelashes toward the bedroom window.
Facing east, it was her way of checking the time. The diffused light allowing her to just
barely make out the pattern on the calico curtains told her it was dawn,
almost.

“Might as well get up and head
downstairs,” Kid sighed. “There’s no
getting that genie back in its bottle.”

Lou smothered her own groaning laughter
while tossing her pillow at Kid’s head for his insane cheerfulness so early in
the morning. Crawling out of the bed,
she pulled on her wrapper and stepped into the warm house shoes Kid had given
her for Christmas last year. Made of
softly tanned deerskin on the outside, inside they were lined with the softest
of rabbit furs. They made her feel like
she was wearing silk slippers every time she put them on. She loved them.

“You better hurry up,” she mock growled
at him. “You leave alone with those
children for long before I’ve had my coffee and they’re liable to be the main
dish at dinner!”

With that parting shot tossed over her
shoulder, she stepped out into the hall, almost running over Martha, Tucker at
her side, helping her make her way down the hall.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Lou
asked, a touch more brightly then she really felt.

“Better, ma’am,” Martha sighed in her
deep accent. “Much better.”

“Well, you take your time getting
downstairs,” Lou advised. “I’ll make
sure the children wait until everyone’s gathered.”

Lou entered the parlor just in time to
catch Noah sneaking around the back of the Christmas tree, decorated with
homemade pine cone ornaments, strings of popcorn and dozens of candles in
special holders, which were not lit
at the moment. The toddler held a
package wrapped carefully in brown paper in his hands. Lou could see his curious fingers already
fiddling with the twine holding the paper closed.

“Oh no you don’t,” she warned sternly,
swooping in and gathering the child into her arms with one hand, while removing
the package from his grasp with the other.
“Not until everyone’s here.”
Looking down at the package, she added, “And this one isn’t even for
you!”

Noah looked up at his mother, too
startled to cry, then snuggled his head into the hollow between her shoulder
and collarbone and stuck a thumb into his mouth to suck contentedly. She shook her head, sighing in mock
exasperation.

Soon, Tucker and Martha had made it down
the stairs and taken seats on the settee.
Jeremiah was sitting on the hearth, next to Barnett, While Teresa and
Kid helped Lou corral the youngsters.

“Can we do this already?” Kid asked,
once the last of the adults had found a seat.

“Please,” Lou smiled, already exhausted.

“Come on,” Kid said, leading the
children, like the Pied Piper, over to the hearth. “Jeremiah, mind handing me the stockings?”

Soon, everyone, even the adults, had a
stocking in hand. Lou and Kid had worked hard to make sure
everybody had something. All the candy sticks
had been carefully broken in two so there’d be enough to go around. And, by breaking up the sets she’d spent the
last few months knitting, she’d been able to give everyone either a pair of
mittens or a scarf. She figured she
could work on completing those sets after Christmas was over, but for now at
least everyone could enjoy a little Christmas surprise.

Kid had found a way to get a small toy
for each of the children. They’d
scrimped and saved to buy EmmyLu a storebought doll for Christmas, with a
porcelain head and real hair she could comb.
But had decided to put her away for the girl’s birthday. Instead, Kid had rushed out to the barn and
fashioned two corncob dolls, with cornhusk shawls and dresses. Judging by the way EmmyLu and Ellen
immediately retreated to one corner of the room to play with them, the little
girls were quite satisfied with their gifts.
And Kid had taken the set of six horses he’d carved and painted for Noah
and split it in two, half each to Noah and Albert.

For Martha and Tucker they’d found some
sets of only slightly used clothes they could give them, a sweater, a coat or
heavy shawl, boots. The things they’d
need to stay warm through the cold prairie winter but didn’t have.

Martha started at the gifts spread
around her, one hand rubbing the top of her belly in ever more agitated
circles.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” she
murmured. “We’ll never be able to repay
you for all you’ve done for us.”

Lou looked over at her husband’s smiling
face as he talked to Tucker and Jeremiah near the hearth. She smiled softly herself, then turned back
to Martha. “You already have,” she said
gently. “Just by being here.”

“Well,” Teresa said, coming over to join
the women, Barnett trailing along behind her.
“We’d better get started on that dinner or we won’t be eatin’ it ‘til
supper time.”

Lou laughed. That was her sister, impatient as ever.

“Alright, you,” she said. “Let’s get a move on.” Looking at her new brother-in-law, she added,
“I suppose this means I’ve got one more pair of hands to help out this
year.” Not waiting for an answer, she
shook her head and turned toward the kitchen, the sounds of happy laughter,
children’s excited voices and the still howling winds of the blizzard blowing
outside following her.

**********

“Are you sure about this?”

Teaspoon looked over at Harbinger. Despite the fact he was a greenhorn, and
there was no denying that, Teaspoon had already come to realize he was smart as
the day was long.

“We’ll be fine,” Teaspoon
harrumphed. “Storm ain’t nearly so bad
as last night. And we’ve got Buck ta
help us find the trail. Ain’t a better
tracker in the territory.” He paused and
looked over at his boys, who were wrapping up the process of knocking down
camp. “’Sides,” he added, “it’s
Christmas Day. And we’ve got presents to
deliver.”

“That’s right,” Cody added, grinning as
he walked up and handed Teaspoon the reins to his horse. “See, we’re somethin’ in the way of Santa
Claus this year.”

Tipping his hat at Harbinger, he turned
back to help his brothers finish tying the last of their supplies to the back
of their saddles.

“Hope you don’t mind,” Teaspoon smiled,
pulling himself laboriously up into the saddle.
“We can’t get you to Sweetwater today.
Only so far’s the McCloud Ranch.
It’s just an hour or so out of town, if you want to try to make it on
yer own. Or, we can get ya there
tomorrow. But, like the boy says, we’ve
got an appointment ta make.”

“No problem,” Harbinger said. “It’s not like anyone’s expecting me.”

He, too, mounted his horse, settling
into the saddle just as the others rode up to join him and Teaspoon.

“Ready?” Teaspoon asked, a twinkle in
his eye.

“Ready,” they chorused.

“Then let’s ride!” Turning their horses away from the sun, they
broke into a ground eating westward trot, the pounding hooves of their mounts
kicking up fountains of snow as they went.

**********

“Is dinner weady yet?”

Martha turned from where she sat at the
kitchen table putting icing decorations on each of the gingerbread men in front
of her. They’d used the last of the sugar
to make the icing and there would be only one gingerbread man and once ginger
snap per person.

“Almost EmmyLu,” she smiled. “Why don’t you see if your Ma is ready for
you to set the table.” Moving her gaze
to the slightly older Ellen, who stood just behind EmmyLu, and said, “You can
help her out, you know. We’re not
guests. We need to carry our own
weight.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the five-year-old nodded
somberly.

“Here, you take these,” EmmyLu said,
handing the china plates Emma had given Lou and Kid for their wedding to
Ellen. “Be careful. Those are Special Occasion Plates,” she
warned seriously. Grabbing up the
silverware, she led the way back to the dining table in the parlor.

Martha laughed as she watched the girls
go. “She’s so obviously your daughter,”
she said to Lou as the older woman backed up to the table, her hands full of
the roasted wild turkey she’d just pulled from the oven.

“Isn’t she?” Teresa said, following her
sister to the table with a platter of fresh, hot biscuits. “Lou’s gonna have her hands full in a few
years.”

“Naw,” Lou said. “I’ll just sic Teaspoon on her.”

“That’s assumin’ Teaspoon survived the
war,” Teresa said a bit more soberly.

“It’s Christmas,” Lou said, wiping her
hands on her apron. “It’s time to think
positively.”

“Well, I’m positively famished,” Kid
said from the kitchen door. “Is it about
time yet?”

“What was that you were sayin’ ‘bout her
bein’ my daughter?” Lou asked the
room at large, sending the other women into peals of laughter.

Soon, the table was set, the food was
out and everyone was jostling for a place to sit. There was the big table for the grown-ups and
a second, smaller table, set with plain wooden dishes and utensils, for the
children.

“Oh,” Martha exclaimed, as Tucker was
helping her to her seat. “Ellen must’ve
set too many places.”

Lou frowned and turned to look at the
table. Quickly counting, she smiled and
shook her head. “No, she didn’t.”

“But, there’s only seven of us, not
counting the young’uns, and there’s eleven place settings.”

Lou slipped into the chair Kid was
holding out for her, then reached up to grab the hand he’d momentarily laid on
her shoulder. Looking up into his face
as he took his place beside her at the table, she asked, “Would you say Grace?”

He nodded and reached out to take her
hand in one of his, Teresa’s in the other.
Once everyone around the table had joined the chain of linked hands, Kid
closed his eyes and bowed his head.

“Dear Lord,” he began, “we thank You for
the chance to come together to celebrate Your birth and for the all the
blessings You’ve bestowed upon us. Lord,
please help us to remember what we have, the love of a good family in good
times and bad, instead of complain’ ‘bout what we ain’t got all the time. We ain’t got much in the way of money, but
you have spoiled us with the richness of a love that can only grow.”

Lou squeezed his fingers as his words
reached her heart. She was so glad he
was feeling better.

“Lord, we do ask that you remember our
missing loved ones. We know, that even
if they ain’t with us in person, they are in thoughts, even as we--”

A sharp rapping on the front door
followed by the sound of a gruff voice yelling out, “Hello, the house!”
interrupted the prayer.

Everyone’s heads popped up at the
unexpected sound. As the others all
looked toward the door, Kid and Lou looked at each other, Lou’s hand shaking as
she reached over to grab Kid’s, Kid already shaking his head in denial.

“Do you think?” Lou asked breathlessly.

“It’s just wishful thinkin’,” Kid
maintained, trying to keep a grip on his own burgeoning hope, his fingers
almost crushing Lou with desperation.

“Anyone home?” the voice called again,
as the rapping increased in strength and frequency.

“Um, don’t ya think we oughta go see who
it is?” Jeremiah asked.

“I can--” Barnett started to offer, but
Kid waved him back into his seat with his free hand.

“No,” he said. “I’ve got it.” Standing, he let go of Lou’s hand
reluctantly, slowly set his napkin down next to his plate and moved over to the
door. Taking a deep breath to collect
himself, he almost hesitantly placed his hand on the door handle and turned it,
releasing the latch. Finally pulling it
open, he stared in open mouthed shock.

“Well,” Lou asked, rising to her feet in
anxiety but unable to see around her much taller husband whose broad frame
filled the doorway. “Who is it?”

“You…. you came,” Kid sputtered,
grinning as he flung himself at his returned family. The others passed him around, even Jimmy,
from hug to hug. Then, with growing
strength, almost a shout of celebration, he added, “You’re all alive!”

Lou smiled tearfully at the joyful note
in Kid’s voice. She hadn’t heard him
sound so happy in years, if ever.
There’d been a similar note of disbelief, joyous discovery and love in
his voice when he’d introduced his brother, Jed, to them all. But even that paled in comparison to what she
was seeing now. She stood, watching the
reunion, trying to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes without being seen.

“What about the little woman?” Cody
asked, pushing past Kid as he hugged Jimmy, for the third time. “I want a hug from her!”

Lou started to back away from Cody, who
grinned with devilish mischief in his eyes.
But she wasn’t fast enough as he pulled her into his arms and squeezed
her for all he was worth.

“Cody,” she gasped, pounding on his
shoulder with one fist. “I can’t
breathe!”

“See, I always knew I’d take your breath
away someday,” he joked, even as Buck shouldered him aside to get his own hug.

Even as the small family absorbed her
into the revolving round of seemingly continuous hugs and grins and slaps on
the back, the others watched the reunion in awe.

“Are… are these the people those extra
plates are for?” Tucker asked, curiously.

“Yes,” Teresa nodded, leaning her head
against Barnett’s shoulder, letting her own tears of joy fall unashamedly. “I…. I can’t believe they’re all still alive

“Alive and kickin’,” Teaspoon said,
using his crutch to lever his way through the door to Lou’s side. Looking back over his shoulder, he added
insouciantly, “Well, mostly, anyways.”

“Oh, Teaspoon,” Lou said, misty-eyed, as
he pulled her tight to his chest. “It’s
sooooo good to see you. But,” she
paused, to pull back as she felt him start to wobble a little, “what happened?”

“Ran afoul of a Union bullet,” he
shrugged. “Ain’t of no account. I get along jest fine. What about you? How’s my gal, doin’?”

“Better, now,” she breathed, smiling up
at him.

“We didn’t come empty-handed, neither,”
Buck said.

“Yeah, I think Emma emptied the
cupboard,” Cody added, as he stepped back out through the front door to collect
an armful of presents.

“And what she didn’t send, we brought
along just in case,” Jimmy finished, as he added a bag full of wrapped gifts to
the pile.

“Oh,” Lou gasped, overwhelmed and
speechless, as Teaspoon pulled her close into his side again, resting on her
more than his crutch.. “Oh my.”

“But, food first,” Teaspoon
grinned. “Smells good in here. What’cha got fer us, Lou?” he asked, rubbing
his hands together gleefully. Turning to
the others, he added, “Remember how nervous we all was the first time she
cooked fer us, after the weddin’ and honeymoon?
Thought fer sure it’d be worse’n Jimmy’s porridge. But it was heavenly fine. Better than Rachel and Emma’s cookin’ put
tagether. I been dreamin’ ‘bout that
meal fer four long years, boys! So hurry
up. I wanta eat!”

Everyone burst into belly laughs as Cody
looked around the room at his family and asked indignantly, “What?!?”

Everyone was so caught up in the
reunion, that no one noticed the last man through the door. Until Lou, her arm still wrapped around
Teaspoon’s waist to support him, said, “Well, come on and sit down. We were just prayin’ over the food. It ain’t fancy, but there’s plenty to go
around.”

As Lou turned with Teaspoon to help him
toward the table the others were already pulling chairs up to, Martha asked,
“But, who’s that man? The one against
the wall? There’s only four extra
plates. He makes five.”

Teaspoon realized he’d forgotten
something and turned to introduce the other member of their party, a man no one
else had noticed yet, so caught up had they all been in the reunion.

“Ever’body, this here’s Tom Harbinger,”
he pointed to a man Lou recognized the second she looked into his face. She started to gasp, but swallowed the uneven
breath even as Teaspoon continued. “We
rescued him from the storm and are gonna help him find his way to
Sweetwater. He’s a Pinkerton. Lookin’ fer a couple kids from out
Tennessee-way.”

“That’s…that’s the man what made
Hollander so scared,” Tucker sputtered.

“What?” Lou asked, whipping around to
look from Tucker to Martha to Harbinger.
“What are you talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Remember, I tol’ ya me and Hollander
saw this man come inta the pub and start askin’ after Martha and me? And Hollander skedaddled us out of town that
night? Well, this is him.”

“What’s your name son?” Harbinger asked
eagerly, pulling off his hat.

Lou pulled away from Teaspoon, taking a
moment to make sure he was balanced on his own, then stepped forward, placing
herself like a shield between the newcomer and the children she’d come to
consider members of her extended family.

Hands crossed over her chest, she demanded, “Hold it right there,
mister. Who are you? Why have you been askin’ after these
children? And what are you doin’ all the
way out here if yer from Tennessee? You
followin’ them or somethin’? You better
not be up ta anythin’. My husband’s the
marshal ‘round here and he’s perfectly capable of makin’ sure ya spend the rest
of the year behind bars.”

The Author

Who am I? A Hispanic broadcast journalist, current host of Kansas Week on KPTS, and certified high school teacher, a writer and lifelong lover of all things historical, particularly the Old West. I'm married to a wonderful man from Germany and we have a 17 yr old son. We have two rescued cats and a rescued pooch, who thinks she's a 70 lb lapdog. I'm prone to talk about anything and everything that catches my interest.